March 23, 2011
The Honorable Frank R. Wolf
U.S. House of Representatives
241 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4610
RE: Raspberry Falls Community Water Concerns
Dear Congressman Wolf:
Thank you for your intervention on behalf of the Concerned Citizens of Raspberry Falls. Please note that we wish to address some of the statements set forth in Mr. Richard Rabil’s March 7, 2011 letter to you. Mr. Rabil’s March 7th letter also attached a March 25, 2010 correspondence to you from Mr. Scott York, Chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, and we wish to address some of the statements contained in that letter as well.
We reference for discussion Mr. Rabil’s statement that “all studies conducted to date have established that the Raspberry Falls Community Water System was constructed correctly and was in good working order on September 24, 2002 when Loudoun Water accepted ownership, operation and maintenance responsibility for the system.” (Mr. Richard Rabil, President, Van Metre Companies, 3/07/2011 Letter to Representative Frank Wolf)
We disagree that the Raspberry Falls Community Water System was constructed correctly. Our own due diligence has revealed that prior to 2002 the County’s professional staff recommended against Van Metre’s plan to install wells and septics in an area underlain by Karst geology due to the high likelihood of water contamination. These recommendations were ignored and in fact, a water filtration unit was never included in community’s water treatment plant design putting the community’s health at risk when the inevitable water contamination levels were detected to be so high that chlorine alone was an ineffective means of disinfection. Further, we question whether the sizing of the Communal Water System’s storage tank included the water usage of the community swimming pool and the communal wastewater treatment plant as well as the club house facilities of the commercial golf course all of which would later be transitioned to the Community Water System. This deficiency not only resulted in numerous violations from the Virginia Department of Health (“VDH”) but threw the entire community into a state of water emergency restrictions and called into question whether the rate at which water moved through the storage tank had adequate and sufficient contact time with chlorine to inactivate bacteria and viruses. In fact, the Raspberry Falls community’s concerns were validated in 2010, when Loudoun County Staff’s concern about the dangers of water contamination in areas underlain by Karst geology resulted in the delineation of a “Limestone Overlay District” that included Raspberry Falls and was approved by the Loudoun Board of Supervisors.
On January 13, 2011, the Loudoun Water Board resolved to undertake a study of options for the Raspberry Falls community to include a pipeline extension of Leesburg Town water to Raspberry Falls as part of it’s response to the VDH’s determination that Well PW-1 is deemed “Groundwater under the Direct Influence of Surface Water” (GUDI). As of this date, we are unaware as to whether that study has commenced.
Our community’s “grass roots” movement is entirely predicated upon the deficiencies of the Raspberry Falls Community Water System and the dangers of individual water wells and alternative septic systems installed in Karst geology by the developer, VMK Associates, a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Metre Companies. Van Metre was well aware of the Karst environmental conditions in this community but despite the known risks delivered a water and waste system that would never be capable of protecting residents’ health and safety. Underground caverns and sinkholes were found during development, which are known contamination threats to the aquifer. However, VMK Associates made no provision for water filtration at the community’s water treatment plant. Instead, Van Metre by and through VMK, procured “special exceptions” for the golf course and wastewater treatment system both of which discharge into the storm water runoff and stream. Its no wonder that the tributary of the Limestone Branch, which is the stream running through our community emptying into the Potomac River, was deemed an EPA 303(d) Contaminated Water Body. It is an outrage that the stormwater pond in our community’s limestone Karst geology is not lined with impervious materials.
The January 2010 commitments to upgrade the water treatment system’s pumps, storage and disinfection have not been implemented as of this date. In addition, Loudoun Water is aware that the UV disinfection they have proposed as a solution will not address water contamination deemed “Groundwater Under the Influence of Surface Water (“GUDI”). As you may know, Raspberry Falls’ primary well (PW-1) was shut down by VDH in November 2010, due to an extensive water study deeming the well’s levels of contamination directly related to infiltration of surface water contaminants at a level that cannot be sufficiently treated by the community’s water treatment plant. We have pointed out numerous egregious errors on the part of VDH and Loudoun Water which led to this GUDI determination and it has always been our position that ALL of the wells in this Karst environment are subject to surface water contamination threats that cannot be treated with Chlorine and UV disinfection alone. Our reasoning that the quality of our delivered water has been out of compliance is predicated on the fact that Loudoun Water has never been able to react immediately to intermittent increased levels of bacteria. There has always been a delay – sometimes up to three (3) days – between the time of detection and the shut-down of the affected well. We have the hard data to prove this fact. Raw water that contained levels of contamination which could not be addressed by chlorine disinfection alone was definitely being pushed through the distribution system into the taps of our homes. We did not receive immediate “boil-water alerts” and Loudoun Water did not test our tap water during this delay period. Even if UV disinfection could have provided another level of protection, Loudoun Water made the commitment to install it on January 8, 2010 and as of today’s date (more than a year later) that installation has not been completed. Further, Well F has not been brought on line and additional storage and pumping capability have not been implemented leaving us currently with a single well (PW-2) that has tested high for contaminants such as algae and coliform in the past and is deemed highly susceptible to contamination in the 2004 Raspberry Falls Wellhead Protection Plan.
Mr. York’s comment that an “additional benefit of the quantity upgrade is the installation of community fire hydrants, vastly improving fire protection,” (Mr. Scott York, Chairman, Loudoun Board of Supervisors 3/25/2010 Letter to Representative Frank Wolf) shows that he is not aware there are already numerous community fire hydrants in place in Raspberry Falls that, unbeknownst to residents or new home purchasers, have been deemed not for emergency use by Loudoun Water since their installation during the development of this community. You may not also be aware that two homes have burned to the ground since this development was constructed.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Rabil states, “Van Metre has no evidence that the quality of water delivered to residents of Raspberry Falls has ever been out of compliance with any such drinking water standards.” We beg to differ based upon the Virginia Department of Health’s Sanitary Surveys of the Raspberry Falls Water Treatment Facility noting numerous violations, especially regarding exceeding the permitted capacity of the plant for each year back to 2004. Only now, seven (7) years later is an expansion of the plant even being discussed let alone implemented. Maybe Mr. York was unaware of these facts when he wrote that “there is no regulatory or health reason for additional or alternative treatment.” (Mr. Scott York, Chairman, Loudoun Board of Supervisors 3/25/2010 Letter to Representative Frank Wolf)
Mr. Rabil’s misguided statement that the interconnection of the Raspberry Falls water system with our neighbor Selma Estate’s community water system will “enhance the operating efficiencies of both systems” shows that he has no working knowledge of the water contamination issues Selma has been plagued with over the past few years. See attached April 8, 2009 Letter by Mr. Terrance Wharton, Loudoun County Department of Building and Development to Selma Estates issuing “Stop Work Orders” suspending all building permits due to sinkholes identified as Class V Injection Wells directing concentrated stormwater into the groundwater at Selma. Selma’s water treatment facility, although larger than ours, is still only capable of chlorine disinfection which as was previously stated is ineffective at treating GUDI. It is our position that an interconnection (even if it is deemed an “interim” emergency back-up (per Ms. Julie Pastor, Director, Loudoun County Department of Planning, 2/03/2011) will only serve as a pipeline directing a new source of contaminated water to the Raspberry Falls community. Hardly, the enhancement it is being billed as in our opinion.
Further, we are eager for Loudoun Water to share the details of proposals to purchase “potable water from the Town of Leesburg for the Raspberry Falls community.” (Richard Rabil’s 3/07/2011 Letter to Representative Frank Wolf) Unfortunately, Loudoun Water has retracted their promise to create a “Citizens Advisory Committee” which would work closely with Loudoun Water in the study of alternative water solutions for Raspberry Falls. (Mr. Scott York, Chairman, Loudoun Board of Supervisors, 3/25/2010 Letter to Representative Frank Wolf) The Loudoun Water Board resolved on January 13, 2011 to include a Town of Leesburg pipeline to Raspberry Falls in the study of water options for the community but we have not heard anything further on that study as of the date of this letter.
We believe that VMK Associates acting by and through Van Metre Companies has deliberately thwarted the commencement of the EPA’s Dye Trace Study that Mr. York (Chairman, Loudoun Board of Supervisors, 3/25/2010 Letter to Representative Frank Wolf) properly notes was supposed to begin in April 2010. On February 24, 2011, the EPA’s attorney informed Van Metre’s attorney that if consent is not voluntarily provided, EPA will obtain judicial approval to enter Van Metre’s land without any restrictions or conditions to investigate potential environmental and human health threats. (EPA’s 2/24/2011 Letter to M. Banzhaf, Esq. attached). It is an outrage to residents in Raspberry Falls to witness Van Metre’s obstructionist behavior regarding the conduct of a Dye Tracing Study that will ultimately protect the safety and welfare of the residents who live in the homes that Van Metre built.
It is our position that it is a miscarriage of justice for Van Metre and K. Hovnanian to continue to build homes and connect them to the Raspberry Falls Community Water System in its current state of flux and deficiency. We are a community in distress and our County representatives have been ineffective in protecting our health and safety which is why we reached out to you directly for assistance.
Respectfully,
CONCERNED CITIZENS OF RASPBERRY FALLS
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